Getting Here - Part 2 of 3

So I basically answered the 'How' in part two...let's get into something deeper. Starting with a short story:


In order to get from Incheon airport into Seoul I was required to take a direct service bus. Getting the bus ticket itself was no issue as I had my wonderful seatmate/guardian Shin to help me along. When the bus came, my bags were quickly placed in the cargo area and I was guided onto the bus. About six passengers were already on board. The seemed a little shocked to see my pale exhausted self step onto the bus, but the stares were minimal. I slowly made my way to the back of the bus and took a seat. A strange red and black plastic block with a strap through it made the seat rather uncomfortable but I figured it would be one of many strange things that I'd have to get used to. The bus itself was nice although a bit narrow. One row had single seats and the row I was in had doubles. It was very clean and shiny on the inside and a quaint television kept both us and the driver occupied as we waited.

Suddenly, a voice came over the PA and delivered a message. Afterwards it was repeated in English. "Please fasten your seatbelt and enjoy your ride!" It finished. "Seatbelt?" I thought "On a bus???" I looked around my seat for the strap and realised that he awkward chunk I was sitting on was actually a seatbelt buckle. Sheepishly struggling with the belts bizarre design, I put it on. It seemed crazy to me that a bus would have seatbelts but in all honesty it seems like a pretty solid idea. I can remember hearing that seatbelts made buses less safe for passengers...but who knows. But in comparison...many taxis here don't have seatbelts. So I'm curious as to what safety actually may mean here.

Anyways, so I'm on the bus and we're making our way out of Incheon. The landscape was impressive despite its muddiness. Incheon airport, I believe, is built on a large portion of reclaimed land. We drove over the flats quickly and came to a large bridge. Alongside it was the similar soggy mud of the surroundings but ahead of us was something much greener. Quickly the landscape became more and more green. Trees increased in density and the landscape became much more dynamic. Rolling hills and then mountains came into view. The lower mountains sat beneath the haze while taller peaked mountains vanished into the clouds. At the roadside I saw a rusty shack, it's roof angled in an 'Asian' way. The kind of roof you see in any piece of folk art. With all the strange trees, cars, sporadic buildings and geographical features around me it finally hit me. I'm actually in East Asia.

I smiled.

Wooo

The Seoul subway system is an interesting creature. The times at which it stops running are strange and at times random. Tonight when I was returning to Ansan from a day trip into Seoul I was fortunate enough to encounter the unreliability of the subway.

Making my way to line 4 was fairly entertaining. I entered the subway station in Gangnam. It was pretty empty, an okay sign. I swiped my t-money card, passed the turn styles, and hustled my way to the platform entrance. At the bottom of the stairs was an impressive sea of people. This would be interesting....When the train arrived I shoved/shuffled my way to a door. An older man beside me looked to me and smiled. I responded with a reserved, "wooo". As we made it into the trains doorway, he and I began to push forward, shoving ourselves into the already packed train.

I'd like to take this time to apologise to the girl who was wearing high heels. Well...every girl seems to here. But the one whose toes I stepped on. Sorry!

Anyways, we got into the car, the doors closed, and the train began to move. 4 stops later at Sadang station I took my turn in shoving passed people to get through the doors. All good so far. I started to walk towards my transfer. At one point, an announcement came over the loud speakers and people began to run. Unsure of what was going on, I followed there pace and expedited my trip to the #4 platform. Upon arrival...I waited. Waited....waited.....then the train came. So far so good!

Aware of the long ride back to Ansan, I took out my headphones and listened to some music. Thirty minutes passed. Still good. Then, we hit the final station of the night. Not Oido...somewhere else. "This is the last stop of the night, please make sure you have all your belongings!". I stepped off the train and asked someone a simple question, "jungang, jungang?".

A man replied, "Where are you going?". Excellent, a bit of English!
"Jungang Yuk" I said.
"No train anymore." I smiled...said Taxi, he said yes. So..I just started walking for the exit. As I got closer, men in blue shirts were shouting stuff at the bottom of the stairs. "Ansan!" I picked out in one sentence. Guessing that they were cab drivers, I echoed back, "Ansan, Ansan!". A kind hand on my shoulder guided me to another stair case, which I took. It led me outside to where some taxis and other confused people stood around.
"Ansan!!! Ansan!!!" A man shouted.
"Ansan..Gojan" I replied.
A kind hand on my shoulder guided me inside his taxi. A short wait and 3 more passengers later, we were off.

Now...taxi drivers in Korea like to drive fast and they like to drive aggressively. But, after my first experience in a taxi on my first day here...this ride wasn't very hair raising. We all didn't wear seatbelts...as is the bizarre custom, if they are even available in the car. We also all sat quietly during the ride. Weaving in and out of traffic, barreling along at a respectable speed, it was actually quite relaxing. I was only mildly worried when our driver passed a car in a tunnel. But even then...I was only mildly worried.

Our driver got us into Ansan and other passengers slowly petered out. Being the last one, he asked to clarify where I was going. "Jungang Yuk!". We got closer...then he looked to his GPS. It told him we were in Jungang, the region, but not at Jungang Yuk. I wasn't familiar with the location, so I just had him go towards the station. Thankfully, we came to a juncture I recognised. I had him stop, he asked for just 10000 won for the trip, and then I walked home.

Overall, the entire thing was pretty painless. It only cost me about $10 and I had a pretty entertaining trip. I'm certainly glad that I didn't have to sleep in the station until morning and I'm very glad I didn't even consider trying to walk the distance.

Thank goodness taxis are so cheap in this country. I suppose that that's another one of those topics for another day. Prices of things here....

Editing...today I don't not not do thee okay!

The more I walk around the happier I get. All of the local people remain great. Even though there are some scattered bad things, they are so few and far between that I can't even bother to remember them. The only issue I'm having right now, is that I'm not 100% comfortable going alone to a new restaurant. I can read the menu, eat the food, but I just feel odd going in and then eating alone! It's my goal for the next few days to just sit down somewhere and eat Galbi all by my lonesome.

Anyhow...Yesterday I went to my first and maybe last ex-pat bar. As mentioned in yesterday's entry, I had gone into Seoul to meet with some friends. Well, the area that we were in had a large concentration of foreigners. I've never been to Itaewon in Seoul, so this is the most I'd seen anywhere in Korea. So the oddness began after the harrowing search for my friends. Seoul is generally a crazy busy place. During training it didn't seem all that bad simply because it was the only part of Korea I knew. Well, being in the suburbs for just a week, the difference between there and here is staggering. I digress...So I find a few of my friends and we stand around waiting for some of the others. When out of nowhere this tall blonde guy approaches us. I'm not sure if this guy hadn't gotten the memo, but there seem to be two ways that unfamiliar foreigners treat each other in public here. Generally one of two things happen. One, they simply don't say anything. Or two, one party does everything in there power to avoid the other and no conversation is ever initiated. This particular fellow, did neither.

He came up to us and said "hi". Us who were waiting looked to one another confusedly. He was white...so maybe one of us knew him? We went through a very awkward introduction and did our best not to engage him in too friendly a manner. None of us knew him. As a result, it felt like this guy was severely encroaching on our privacy. Our response was decidedly cold. To this date, I don't think that I've ever treated a well-meaning stranger so harshly. In all honesty, I feel that I should do something to break this pattern but I really don't have much of a desire to just meet other foreigners at random.

***

So yesterday, before I went to Seoul, I had to continue my quest for cell phone activation. To do so, I needed to catch subway at Jungang station and make my way to Ansan station. Getting to Jungang station on very vague directions was a little strenuous, as at the halfway point I felt quite lost. Despite my unease, I just kept walking. Since I was following subway tracks, I'd reach SOME station eventually. Even still, I was walking beside a bike path that was lined with greenery, magpies and dragonflies, so at least I had scenery and company during my wandering. Eventually, I did arrive at Jungang station. Walking past a man selling donuts at the street side I entered the building and moved to a fare kiosk. I charged my t-card with 5000 won, grabbed a route map (all in Korean...very little English here...thank goodness I can read it!) and walked to the appropriate platform.

After waiting about five minutes I boarded the train. The ride itself was uneventful but I did get to expand my knowledge of the city and landscapes. It seems that Ansan is nestled in a bowl of low-rolling mountains. They're heavily forested and dotted with sporadic electricity things. However one edge, the first I plan to visit, has a temple sitting atop it. There are probably numerous discoveries in the mountains that I can't wait to come across. Whether it be plant, insect, or hand painted warning sign, it should be entertaining!

Ansan city itself is comprised of sporadic urban pods interlaced with small farms on unused parcels of land. I'm not sure how a corn and cabbage field can sit next to 20 floor apartment buildings, subway tracks, and an 8 floor commercial building, but they make it work!

So after about 10 minutes or less I reach Ansan station. Getting inside I was greeted by the familiar shops shops food style of other Seoul subway stations, only this was above ground. Reaching the exit, this area was a little more like exterior Toronto than populated Korea. I believe that this area of Ansan is more noted for its factories than anything else. As a result, there is a large concentration of South Asian workers milling about. The whole area has a bit more of a rural feel. Fresh food vendors have assorted blankets with food on them along the steps and exits and some even sell fresh fish from buckets.

Crossing the street via an underground walkway, I emerged to find a 'Show' store. I needed to find a Show, but I'm still not sure if this was the right one. South Korea has a wide variety of cell phone carriers, I need to find a KTF...all I can find are SK telecom. I didn't check what the carrier this Show represented, but I went in anyways. Using my broken Korean, an in store phrasebook, and gestures, I was able to get across that I wanted to register a pre-paid phone. They asked for ID. I put my bag up on the counter and my arrogantly placed "Canada" pin flashed for a second. "Ohhhh, Kaenada Saram!" the girls manning the shop said to each other. The service I received suddenly became a bit more helpful! It turned out that one of the girl's wanted to study psychology in Canada in the near future. Grateful for the help I'd received thus far, I offered my e-mail in case she needed any help with her process should she ever decide to come to Canada.

I felt kind of bad when I was being helped because I was drawing a lot of attention away from other customers. I could only offer an older man sitting in a chair a confused/bemused expression and a shrug for the needless attention I was receiving. I did my best to get them to help other customers instead of trying to help me out.

So they took my money, my passport, I signed some forms, gave some more info, then they made a phone call. The result was the same as everywhere else. No use anywhere in Korea! The news wasn't hard to hear, since it was my fourth time hearing it, so I left a little dejected but not deterred. It was probably another SK, but if not, I can try it again in Seoul. Failing that...I can buy a new phone! Regardless, I made my first two (not from training/work/other people's friends) acquaintances in this country. Hopefully there are more to come! I just need to learn more Korean because barely anybody here knows English. As it should be.

Handsome man!

I'm heading for 신즌 in Seoul and a man steps onto the subway. He gets close, points, and says something. I remove my headphones and sign the body language for, "come again?"

"Handsome man! Handsome man!" He says, pointing his finger obtusely.

I smile and say thank you in Korean. He offers his hand for me to shake. I take it, we smile, he rubs his finger into my palm and pulls his hand away. I play it cool. My hand and my soul don't feel quite right for the next ten or so minutes. However....some Korean man, possibly on the DL, possibly just using some sort of cultural thing I don't understand, thinks I'm pretty handsome. Nice...

Failure to continue a story...because I'm tired.

She's onto me! The woman at the family mart is on to me. My Bulgogi Burger habit has been quickly noticed by the judicious shopkeep. Before entering the store yesterday, I thought to myself, "I bet she'll have noticed that I'm buying way too many of these...she'll probably bother me for only buying this delicious processed treat." Surely enough, even before I reached the cooler containing those precious burgers, she started to laugh and say something in Korean.

They were all out of Bulgogi Burgers.

Following a very long speech that I failed to understand, aside from some suffixes, "nida, sayo, hayo..." she pointed to another food item. "Sandoo-each". Ah, sandwhich. I could get a sandwhich! The tag said 300 won...cheaper than a burger...awesome. So I sorted through the three available packages and settled on one that looked like it was all meat. She rang it up...1700 won. Apparently the sticker was for a deal on milk. 300 won for milk with the purchase of a sandwhich. Oh well....I was hungry anyways.

So I get the sandwhich up to my appartment, turn on some starcraft, channel 78, and unwrap the latter part of my lunch. 3 halves...excellent. The cute thing, was that the crusts had been cut off. I felt like a very spoiled or coddled elementary school student. So the contents of the sandwhiches. Meat and Cheese, Meat and Cheese and....wait for it....Pasta. Yes, a pasta sandwhich. It...was barely edible. However, I ate it.

Today I went to a Kimbap place and ordered Bibimbop. 3500 won. I may give up Bulgogi Burgers for good.

And now...back to your regularly narrated program.

Getting Here - Part 1 of 3

So eventually I knew I would have to cover the reasons why I came to South Korea. Well, after a long day and no other writing backlogged, now is the time. Three parts because I'm lazy and need time to write down on paper the events of the past little while.

South Korea initially came about from me being friendly at a job fair. A recruiter was sitting idle at her booth and I had found very few pertinent jobs at the fair. A little bored and disheartened, I figured I would approach her and find out exactly what company she was representing. It turned out that she was recruiting for an English Language School in South Korea. The conversation started out with me being mildly curious and ended with me really warming to the idea of teaching English in a foreign country. With her being a personable recruiter and the pay/perks being attractive bonuses, I decided to take up the job as a contingency. Should I fail to find any other work after I graduated, I could always teach English in Korea! Frivolous, no?

As it turned out, two of my friends from University took potential positions from this school. However, after going through the interview process, the abandoned the school last minute, leaving me to hold a job with this company all by my lonesome. I was eventually offered a position in an indefinite South Korean location. Despite the work offer I still kept it as a contingency. Really, even though the offer was right there, South Korea was very far from home. I'd have to leave a lot behind to go there, especially for a year. For me, a year is an incredibly long time. It takes a long time for me to live out. My university career seemed to last a decade or more whereas some of my colleagues felt like it was just a flash in the pan. So, a year away from family and friends, permanently away, was a pretty jarring concept.

Exiting my final exams in April, I began my search for a "Real Job" with little stress on my mind. Again, if I couldn't find work, a place would be waiting for me here! Over the next month and a half, I was only able to score a few meaningful interviews. Some offers came from sketchy companies and a lot of resumes and cover letters simply went unanswered. The job search began to really get to me.

By June, I was getting quite depressed. Nobody seemed to want me. Although the job market was indeed dry, I felt that I possessed a number of marketable job skills. Sadly, with little related work experience for many jobs, recruiters and hiring staff simply ignored me. So then I had to make a decision. A few days before my convocation I received an e-mail. You have an offer for a job in Ansan. Interesting...the job has a location now. I did some cursory research and discovered that the city seemed like a really beautiful place. With time winding down on the summer and the summation of me undergraduate career approaching, I took the best option available to me, South Korea.

So with just this as my story, my being here seems a bit frivolous. Well, I was certain that my arrival would shed new insights into why I came and it definitely did.

A Story From Nowhere

So before I get back to transcribing backlogged entries...a new story, fresh from the brain, stream of thought style!

Today was my first time getting 'lost' in South Korea. Now, for people that know me well enough, me being lost isn't really a traumatic thing. Generally, I have some visual landmarks in mind and am willing to spend an indefinite time walking in carefully plotted circuits until I find them. During this period of time, I resolve that should worse come to worse, I can always fall asleep in a protected area, wait until morning, and then search for a practical way home with whatever directions I could remember. Of course, depending on the severity of my lostness, asking for help could occur sooner.

In my case of being lost, my key direction word was a large department store with an English name. Early in the morning, I went to the department store to get some supplies; pillows, bowls, a spray bottle for ironing, and a towel. During my return, I ran into a new friend who offered to show me a different area of Ansan, Jungan. I gladly accepted and quickly ran my goods back to my officetel before beginning our walk. During said walk we shared a fairly interesting conversation during which I failed to keep tabs on my surroundings. The only landmark I registered on our 20 minute walk was the bike path we took the entire time.

We sat and talked in Starbucks for a bit before I decided that I needed to return home in order to prep for teaching. Passing the tank full of live squid I had marvelled at earlier, I took 5 minutes to cross two not-as-scary-as-Seoul crosswalks and walked back towards my dwelling. The walk was very pleasant. Lots of trees, some magpies, cicadas visible to the naked eye, swarms of dragon flies, school children, apartment buildings, and lots of stuff I'd never seen before. Rather than feeling lost, I felt that because I was on the opposite side of the street, I must be seeing things from a different vantage point, thus, things looked 'new". All I had to do was keep walking and I would reach my apartment!

Well...a bunch of time passed and I passed no shops, no bridges, and nothing I'd seen before. I eventually decided that I was likely two streets too far to the north and that I would have to make a right turn eventually. I walked for another five minutes until I decided to turn. Now...it wasn't the time that made this decision, it was the apartment buildings on 3 corners and big field of large leafy vegetables on the fourth which made me decide to change directions.

Immediately I saw the vertical shops of commerce in the near distance. I kept on walking. Two school girls walked by, one ran shyly away, the other said, "Hello!", so I said, "Hello!", then she said "Bye Bye!" and I said "Bye Bye!". A good time had by all.

Following this brief encounter, I came to an intersection, 2 corners apartment buildings, one corner greenery, one corner shops. I decided to take the shops route. Right turn! Walking along, things didn't look familiar, but they looked promising. I knew that a dense commercial district was across the street from the mildly dense commercial district that I live in, so I figured I was near it. I figured I would probably come across the movie theatre if I continued on in this direction. Strutting along at my own pace, I noticed on one building a circular symbol similar to the one on the front of the theatre. I took a left!

Going down the street I saw some fresh produce stores, a good reference for future shopping, some barber shops (they're everywhere here) and the same number of innumerable restaurants. I still haven't decided if it's cheaper to eat out or shop for food here....half and half may be it. I've been eating dirty 1000 won bulgogi burgers today. They're pretty delicious, cheap, and filling. 461 calories!.....

So anyways...my view of the distance was blocked by the vertical signage which is everywhere here. A new friend once explained it to me as, "Everything in South Korea is up" and he's basically right. I'm sitting on the third floor of a building typing this in a PC 방 (PC Bang) which sits next to a Jazz bar. Yes..the signage. So the signage was blocking my view of what was coming up after this street ended. I could only focus on what was directly ahead or beside me. So, it was much to my surprise that as I neared the streets end the familiar store front of the Department store near my apartment came into view! Only mildly relieved since I was never stressed in the first place, I crossed a bridge to get to the other side of the street and went home. By the end of that small ordeal, I came away with a good idea of what my jogging route will be here. All I need is a pair of shoes!

Part two of Day 2!

The last week has been an absolute whirlwind. I've got a lot of writing to catch up on... But right now I'll continue from where I left off.


...Essentially, I had 2.5 hours to wander around and find the cafe where I was supposed to meet my friends, A Twosome Place. It should be noted that at this early point in my journey...I was still vary wary, and still am quite wary, of being a Pedestrian in South Korea. Because of this, I came to my first big obstacle. An 8 lane road. Cars speeding through with what then seemed like no rhyme or reason, I figured it would be pointless to try and cross. Little to my knowledge, it was common practice to not cross these kinds of streets in Korea. Instead, subway stations connected the street's opposing sides via a series of tunnels. Think of a small section of Toronto's PATH system and you'll understand the nature of these tunnels. Shops, shops, food, shops. But, at this point in time I was too afraid to go into the subway, in fear of being trampled or getting lost. Instead, I picked my way around a corner and walked down Teh'ran street, searching for a crosswalk.

Continuing down the street, passing various street level stores and building plazas, I was pretty surprised to see a very large and well kept TGI Fridays. People sat on the patio, the staff seemed fairly busy inside, and it appeared to be a popular place. An odd concept at first. Eventually I came upon a place where I could cross. Which I found very odd considering the congestion only minutes up the road. Still afraid of the crossing, I found a sense of relief in that several locals were also going to use this intersection. This was even more relieving considering that I didn't see any sort of button to press in order to signal the crosswalk. Patiently, I waited until the lights changed. We began to walk a bus began to turn the corner. The bus driver honked his horn repeatedly. At first, I thought we had surprised him but I guess that in this country, the bus is rarely used for frivolous reasons. Usually it's a warning, "I'm going to break the road laws" or "I'm going to hit you if you don't move!". Disobediently, my local guide(ish) just kept walking. Trying to act the same, I followed along. The bus continued to inch froward as we walked. The Bus driver was probably annoyed, but this seems to be the pace of life here. Push, push, push, or don't push.

Driver's do some funny things here though. It seems like the bigger the thing you drive, the more respect you can command. For example, in Canada, drivers will generally slow down when nearing a pedestrian. In South Korea, they often speed up in order to beat them to a cross walk or whatever else. The only real thing to worry about are the delivery guys on bikes and scooters. Being careful here pays dividends. It seems most people are, but it's still pretty amazing that I haven't seen any vehicular carnage and violence.

So the walk continues....I turn right to head back into the heart of Gangnam, only this time I'm on the opposite side of the street. I pass TGI fridays, more shops, and then reach the main street again. A quick left turn and I'm on my way again. Shortly afterwards I came upon a Twosome Place. With too much time to spare...I needed to walk more. I kept along until I hit another big intersection, only this time people were crossing it en masse. Repeating my actions from last time, I took a left turn.

I walked pass somewhat similar sights, businesses, tall buildings, only this time office towers surrendered to four and five story buildings. As is the theme of these entries...I came to a section I was uncomfortable continuing into. So what did I do? I took a left. Dodging a couple people on bikes, I stepped onto a street that looked much less western than the one's I'd been on before. Small buildings and vertical signs dominated everything. Trees became more frequent the further I went, slowly weaving into a nice canopy on each side. Cicadas of all types bombarded me with their songs while I walked. I briefly took a video of the sound...but haven't uploaded it yet. Soon!

To my left there was a sports park of some sort. Basically an outdoor track with miscellaneous equipment. Before I turned left I must have been upwind from it because when I turned the corner I was assailed by the scent of human man sweat. Before coming, I'd heard that deodorant wasn't really in vogue here. I'd never noticed, still haven't. I've even seen a special on tv about people trying it for the first time. But it was only this moment, with these guys sweating 100 feet away, that it became very real. Think of the humidity I explained before...but with sweat. It was like putting my head into a hockey bag. But I digress...it's really the only bad people smell I've run into other than the occasional old person that smells like kimchi. I'm sure I smell like cheese and wet dog to everyone here...so I suppose it's all relative!

The new street that I turned onto held a new discovery.....Bennigans, the now defunct American chain, is alive and well in South Korea. In fact...many western chains are VERY popular here. Dunkin Donuts resembles a hip restaurant, mcdonalds is always packed, and people just love Bennigans. I laughed when my Dad told me I should try to open up a Western restaurant here. Well...he may have been right! With the right coat of paint, Tim Hortons could be the next Dunkin' Donuts! Timu Holtonas!

I still had more time before needing to turn left. I came to another intersection. This time, the issue was that the light was out, just flashing yellow. To replace it were two men with batons and vests, doing there best to direct traffic but really only waving at cars that went by anyways. Reaching the intersection, the one guy tried to stop all the traffic. Savvier, I waited for a car to go through. I then kept walking. We exchanged a smile and nod. My way of saying thanks before knowing what thanks meant. Then, I heard another man yelling. The guy beside me laughed and I looked behind me. The man in the centre of the street was saying something in Korean. Then, he said, "Hellloooooo! and waved. Feeling oddly like a VIP, I bashfully waved, said hello, and kept walking Towards the intersection. Experiences like this one make me feel like I could become familiar with this country very quickly. But it doesn't stop me from feeling bad about not being able to speak much of the native language. I feel pensive and ashamed when dealing with new people. But I'm sure that will change.

By 11:05am, I'd returned to a twosome place. I figured that I may as well go in and order. The teller spoke little to no English, but it was no problem. The menu had English on it! I ordered, he looked confused, and we tried again, and he understood. Sitting down and reading the sign afterwards, I realised that the Korean translation was almost the same as the English, 아이스 카페 라떼 (a-ee-su ca-peh la-teh). Anyways...after ordering, he said something in Korean, likely four thousand won (coffee is stupidly expensive here) and handed me a number. I went to another shelf and waited for my drink. Once receiving it, I sat down, opened my book, and started writing. Sitting in a Twosome Place in downtown Seoul, listening to American top 40 music play over the Stereo, and hoping that the locals didn't think I smelled too bad.

Part one of Day 2!

I don't have a lot of free time right now so I'm just going to type up part of what I'd written on Sunday, mostly unedited, so thoughts tend to be all over the place!

8.10.08

Well, I went out for a walk, Culture shock gone. All that's left is the realisation that until I learn more Hangul, I'm just a pale idiot who can only smile, nod, and hopefully not offend anybody.

My intial impression of this city was somewhat tainted by the weather, my lethargy, and the blazing pace with which I was taken to my hotel. In fact, Seoul is not the dingy looking and insane city with a protest going on mere blocks away from my hotel. It's actually a thriving metropolis with way too many people, hilarious drivers, and a bizarre smell that hangs in the air. I haven't figured out what it is. Maybe it could be sewage, garlic, or a combination of both, I'm really not sure. I'm certain that I'll get used to it, but right now I smell it everywhere, taste it in everything. It's just so oppressive!

When stepping out of the hotel that morning, I was amazed by the cicadas. Not only the volume, but the variety. Some emit the same telltale hum of our cicadas while others chirp like birds. Then, there are my favourite ones whom I've deemed "serious business cicadas". They're so loud that you actually have to raise your voice to be heard near them. Initially, I had thought that I was hearing some sort of alarm or power tool but this assessment quickly changed as I kept hearing it as I passed by certain trees. Only then did I realise that this super loud noise was actually coming from a bug! Amazing stuff.

Back to the walk...my plan was to meet up with a friend later in the day near 강남(gangnam) station. Leaving the hotel, I only had a small map printed on the back of my hotel card holder. I had memorised specific businesses as landmarks but never bothered to geographically orient myself. My plan was that if I reached a small street I had to go the other way while if I hit a big street it would be the right way. So I took a left turn and crossed the street to the sidewalk then decided that right would be the better direction. This is where I got acquainted with the cicadas. Passing a phallus like sign post I came to an intersection...wrong way? Thankfully, no. I recognized a banner hanging on a wall from my cab ride in yesterday. So, if I took a right again, I would get to the street leading to Gangnam station! As I walked along tlong the main street I quickly came upon a half basket that protected a staircase, what I soon learned was a subway entrance. Hanging above and behind it was a large sign with a 3 on it and some hangul underneath. I stopped and slowly pieced together the word. "K...ang....na...m...oh! Gangnam!" I felt pretty happy, I wasn't lost, I was early, and since it was only 10:45, I had a lot of time to look around before meeting my friend at 1pm.

Straight from the book of a tired man

Well, it's shortly after wakeup, I'm deep into culture shock and am probably going to go for a short walk after this. This is really just a short entry to let you all know I'm alive!

--

4:40am wakeup, had to snooze once since sleep was so short. The dirve went quickly as we reached the airport by 6:30. Baggage check took only a few minutes since we were so early.

I've always heard bad things about Air Canada, but the service I received was nothing by exemplary. The food on the plane was good, their was always somebody there to help me, and generally all I got were smiles! The one thing that went awry, was that I was picked for a random spot search. So my baggage and every bit of me was given a thorough search before I was allowed to enter the departure area. Oh well...

The flights themselves were an ordeal, 16 hours in the air with minimal sleep really wasn't my idea of a good day. When I wrote this entry, I turned on my hotel TV only to find that they were playing a pre-recorded game of the Blue Jays vs. the Cleveland Indians. Pretty odd...the best part about it was that they dubbed over the umpire. "Huai!" he would exclaim in a reverb filled insertion.

Anyways...the flight from Toronto to Vancouver was pretty uneventful. I had an aisle seat and the middle seat was unoccupied, pretty sweet if you ask me. Just an aside...it's 9am and I can hear a cicada outside..sweet.

Anyways, the from Vancouver to Inchon let me know what I was in for. Waiting at the flight gate, I was one of 4 white people. Since being in Seoul, I'm the only foreigner I've seen so far! Anyways, on the plane I befriended my seat mate, Shin. She was a mother from Ilsan who had been visiting a daughter in Calgary. Her English wasn't great, but I could talk with her well enough, was I let her know that her English was fine. Before that, she realllly didn't want to talk to me. Shin played a great role for my first Korean experience. She was my guide when we got off the plane, hawkishly guiding me to the right areas and the right bus. We exchanged e-mail addresses and phone numbers and I should hopefully get to visit her soon enough.

It was a whirlwind from there to my hotel, especially since I'd only had 3 hours of sleep and had been awake for 24 hours. As the bus from the airport blazed along the highway, I kept on laughing at the ridiculous fact that I was all alone in Seoul.

Sorry about the spasticness here...but I gots to go. I'll hopefully be meeting with a friend later on..then I won't be as alone! Now it's walk time. I'll do my best not to get lost or owned by a car.

Fly Away

So I leave the house in about 5 hours, I'll be lucky to get four hours of sleep! The flight itself will take about 17 hours with all processes considered (not considering check-in...). I'll arrive at Incheon Airport at 3:50pm on Saturday, August 9th. After landing I have to take a bus to the mainland and then a cab to my hotel. Should be really fun, especially considering how tired I'll be. I just hope I stay lucid enough to keep track of my money.

After calling my employer on Saturday I'm hoping to hook up with a University friend in Seoul. He lives by Gangnam Station, apparently one of the hippest and most happening places in all of Seoul. It sounds like an expensive place to live and makes me quite glad that I'll be placed in one of the outlying Seoul suburbs.

Well...I'm honestly quite exhausted, both physically and mentally. My final day with family and friends was terrific. I ate some corn, had some laughs, and visited the lake for one last time. I'm certainly going to miss my life here but I'm sure memories of it will end up in some bizarre location in my brain, never forgotten but rarely remembered. Over the next week or more updates may not happen as my access to the Internet will probably be pretty sporadic. Expect updates to either be short, awesome, or both. When I get settled in and purchase a cheap(ish) laptop of sorts, I'll pepper the day to day business with some stories about how I ended up in Korea. Again...when I get there, I'll know how and why it all went down.

All I can hope for right now is that I finish reading "King John of Canada" from the author of "The Dominion of Wyley McFadden", Scott Gardiner. I really recommend Dominion...not so sure about King John.



Tschüss Baby!

I keep thinking, "next time" but there may not be one...

So I've basically finished packing. Mostly clothing, a few pairs of shoes, some books, and some video games. It took much less effort than anticipated but will probably prove to be a nuisance to fish clothes out of during my stay in a hotel over next week.

I managed to get a hold of 200000 Won (South Korean Currency) today which set me up for a potentially hilarious first encounter in South Korea. The money was dispensed to me in the following quantities: 10 - 10000 Won bills, 100 - 1000 Won Bills. That's correct...I cleaned out this currency booth of all of its Won and they gave me one hundred and ten bills. If I wanted to be inconspicuous with my money, well, they just spoiled that. I was handed a giant brown chunk of bills and all I could think of was how annoyed people are going to be with me. I'll be paying for stuff with what amounts to $1 bills. "That will be 20000 Won sir!" Then I will hand them 18 bills and have to fish through my pockets for an additional 2. Imagine being given a bag of loonies and told to use it as your spending money...I can only imagine how bemused the locals will be with my giant wad of cash that holds little value.

The money itself is pretty interesting. The people on the bills remind me of Romance of the Three Kingdoms only now I won't have to get confused by the ethnically confusing portrait of Zhang Fei. On the 10000 bill there appears to be an Astronomer of sorts and on the 1000 bill there's a painter, writer, or the inventor of Hangul script. I could probably research who these people are, but I'll leave that for another day. The money smells vaguely of motor oil, garlic, and algae and have a large white square on the outer corner that contain a watermark.

Anxiety is finally starting to build. The sense of finality is becoming cemented in reality as I struggle to squeeze every last moment out of this city and my close friends in it. Right now though...I need to get to sleep. If I don't make another post tomorrow night, it'll come after I'm in South Korea. Either from an Internet cafe or my friend's laptop. As mentioned I'll be keeping a paper journal, so not much will be lost in delays and any delays should be no longer than a week.

There are still a lot of small stories to tell about the lead up to my departure, but I'll save those for a less eventful time.

Blog Beginnings

So here it is, my blog. It exists to share my experiences in South Korea with friends, family, and anyone finds it by accident, reference, or searching. The current template is acceptable, though I hope to tweak it as time goes by.

I am well aware that blogs like this tend to start strong, quickly falter, find renewal in the half-way point, and then fade to nothingness as apathy overcomes the author. I'll say it here: I won't let that happen to this blog. During my time in Korea, I plan to keep a journal in a notebook that my sister gave to me. Since I have an easier time communicating with paper than I do with a keyboard, I'll have no trouble finding the impetus to keep a record of my life. Because of this, I won't need special motivation in order to keep this blog updated. All I'll need is a block of 10 or 15 minutes in which I can hurriedly type up and edit any pertinent journal entries.


So with that, onto some musings!


My decision to go to South Korea is something I still need to spend some time figuring out. I'm still not 100% sure exactly why I'm thrusting myself into this crazy situation. However, I am sure that once I've lived on the peninsula for a few months I'll actually be able to sort out the invisible impulses that ultimately made my decision for me. At present, the whole thing seems pretty unreal; I keep telling everybody that it won't hit me until I'm on the airplane or until I actually step off the plane in South Korea. The only way that I can describe how I feel this week is that it's like I'm about to die in 3 days. That I'll never be able to relive anything I know ever again. My understanding of everything will be put to the test on Friday. As I plunge swiftly into the unknown, much of what I know as truth could quickly become moot.

Despite this sense of foreboding, I am oddly well prepared for this journey. This became apparent when I began to compare my preparations with those of other potential teachers whom I met during the Visa process. Many of them would marvel at how I'd started to learn Hangul. They'd express shock in that I'd begun to review English grammar rules. They were even surprised that I knew the time difference between here and South Korea and even moreso when I knew general information about the Hagwon (Private English Language School) chain I'm employed by! Of the dozen or more potential teachers I'd met, most only knew that they would be going to South Korea. They knew South Korea was in Asia and that they would be teaching English to South Koreans. Proud of myself, I arrogantly compared myself to them. I felt overprepared, ahead of the game, ready to roll! But in all honesty, despite my limited efforts, I am still feel very underprepared.

From June until now, I haven't put in nearly enough hours to step off of the plan as an expert. I may have done my English homework, I may have learned to read, write, and speak some Korean. But the truth is, I am not an English teacher (yet), I can only say a few things in Korean: hello, yes, no, thank you, goodbye, excuse me, where can I buy pillows/bulgogi/kimchi stew/galbi, what is that, I'm very sorry, do you speak English: and my ability to read Hangul is hampered by my lack of visual familiarity with full syllables; my attempts at reading result in a slow piecing together of words, one awkward letter at a time. I end up missing words entirely as I break them into unintelligible blocks. For example, imagine my surprise when, just today, I was able to comprehend the "remarks" at the bottom of my Visa! Scribblings I had once dismissed as being illegible abbreviations actually spelled out the name of the company I was working for. Fancy that!

There is a lot more that I need to write about my preparation (getting the job in the first place, the Visa process, packing, booking a flight, etc.), but this post really comes down to one concept. That until I step off that plane I will have no idea of how prepared I actually am. All I can expect of myself is to be a foreigner: lost, confused, excited, and laughing. It doesn't matter how much I've readied myself. I've never been to Korea, much less out of this Country. I'm not a traveller nor am I agoraphobic. I'm sort of like a cross between a hermit, a hobo, and a jellyfish. Floating out on the ocean's currents, welcoming change as unavoidable, but never pausing to appreciate or fight against new conditions.

This experience is going to be something entirely different. To date, it's going to be the greatest test of my character. It's going to be a shock and it's going to take all of my ability to laugh at unforgiving circumstances in order to carry on with a song and a smile. Because really, what have I gotten myself into?